Getting to Know You
by Macx
Summary: Epilogue to Agenda. Mika Reeves meets his new partner


**Getting to Know You**   
a tag to Agenda   
by Birgit Stäbler

  
Mika Reeves nervously wiped his hands on the dark green, sleeveless vest he wore over a white shirt and checked his watch for the umpteenth time. He ran a hand through his dark blond, unruly hair and wondered why the heck he was nervous anyway. He had handled worse situations than the one he was about to walk into. He was a professional.... at least he had thought until a few years back. But that was a different story. FLAG's approach at that time had been like a miracle. They had busted him out of a tight spot, had given him a chance, and he had gladly taken it. Mika had turned his back on his past and joined the semi-government funded organization. That they trusted him to work the cases he was given was a surprise, though he had been teamed up with partners, mostly one and the same guy, and they had probably been there to watch him.   
Now he had been approached again, by none other than the almost legendary Michael Knight. Legend among FLAG agents of an older breed, that was. Mika had never met the man and had just heard stories. Knight had been the very first operative of FLAG, back when the Foundation had been completely private, run by a few people, and a major thorn in the sides of police and government agencies. He grinned. Today, FLAG was still a thorn, but a bigger one.   
Knight had asked if he were interested in a new project. Well, yes, he was. Mika was infinitely curious and he liked challenges. The answer had drawn a smile from Knight.   
Michael Knight was an impressive figure to meet. He was a tall man who had an air of authority that wasn't immediately visible. Being around him you grew aware of his self-assured behavior, the way he seemed to be at total peace with the world, aware of his own strength and power. Mika had thrown this inner peace Knight radiated off balance. There was something about the man that puzzled him and it wasn't the ease with which the project manager and true chief of operations of Team Knight Rider handled everything.   
Mika looked at the non-descript house he had been told to drive to. It was nice, not his style, but in a very quiet neighborhood. Suddenly a car came down the almost deserted street and he recognized Knight's black TransAm. The K.I.T.T. He had talked briefly to the AI and had been astounded by the humaness of the computer. It was like talking to a human being!   
Kitt was as much a legend as the driver and the very first and still functional FLAG AI, as far as Mika had been told. He knew about Team Knight Rider, of course. He had been briefed on that particular group of operatives throughout the first set of interviews. He knew about the artificial intelligences inside the cars and he had been intrigued by them.   
And then Michael Knight had floored him with the offer of teaming him up with an AI himself. It was experimental, very experimental, and there was no guarantee how everything would turn out. The AI in question had been suffering from severe trauma and was currently in the care of a cyberrobotics expert. Mika had puzzled about that part. A traumatized AI? Okay..... right.... traumatized from what? Knight had not answered that question. He would get another briefing in the presence of the AI expert.   
Right.   
No problem.   
But why trust him with that? With his record... what he could do with an AI like that... wow.... Knight had simply smiled and told him that he had proven himself in the past, that he had utmost confidence in Reeves.   
Knight parked the car close to Mika's green Dodge and got out. He smiled at the agent and they shook hands. Mika tried to hide his nervousness.   
"Come on in," Knight then said and led him down the ramp toward the garage. He opened a small door set into the garage door and Mika now found himself in a large, well-lit basement area that held little of a usual house basement. It was a lab complex with a lot of open space. In the middle of the open space parked a silver Ford Probe. The hood had been popped open and several cables led into the engine compartment. A long u-bend table took in most of the wall to the right and currently, a small, slender woman was busy doing something or other to some doohickey.   
"Hi, Jo," Michael greeted the woman and she looked up.   
Mika found she wasn't too bad to look at. She had pleasant, though now slightly scowling features, framed by dark brown hair and was dressed in casual clothes, which were covered by a lab coat. The woman was about two heads smaller than Michael.   
"Hi, Michael," she answered, then transferred her gaze to Mika and he immediately felt like under a microscope. "That him?"   
Oh, nice. Sounds like I'm some kind of pond scum, he thought wryly, though with some amusement.   
She walked over to them, still gazing at him like she was trying to read his mind, to determine if he was a threat or not.   
"Mika Reeves, Dr. Joanne Campbell. She is the cyberrobotics expert I told you about. You will be working together."   
Mika stretched out a hand and the woman took it, though reluctantly. "Pleased to meet you, Dr. Campbell," he said.   
"And this is Kro," Michael went on with his introductions, nodding at the silver Probe.   
Mika was immediately intrigued, but he also didn't miss the flash of .... protective warning...? in Dr. Campbell's eyes. Ah, tread carefully.....   
"Kro?" he echoed.   
"K.R.O. The Knight Reformulation One," Knight explained.   
"Ah. Hello, Kro."   
There was a short silence, then a hesitant but rather pleasant voice said, "Hello, Mr. Reeves. It is nice to meet you."   
Mika smiled slightly, both stunned and pleased with the reception. "Likewise."   
"I think we should let the two of you get to know each other first," Michael now interrupted, casting a meaningful look at the woman and she shot him an annoyed look back.   
Spirit. Definitely spirit, Mika thought. She must have put a lot of effort into the car. She was proud of it, and everyone could see it.   
"Okay," Dr. Campbell finally relented.   
The two left the basement and Mika was alone with the silent car. He felt rather stupid, standing there, staring at the gleaming, silver finish. What did you talk about with a car?   
Artificial intelligence, he corrected himself. Stop thinking of it as a car. Him.. it... whatever.... Oh, he was already confused.   
"Okay, this is new for me," he finally said out loud. "And I'm probably making a complete idiot out of myself at the moment."   
"Not really, no," Kro answered, sounding just as shy and hesitant as Mika felt. "At least not a complete idiot."   
Reeves chuckled. "Why, thank you. I guess talking about the weather would be redundant and you probably know my file."   
"Yes and yes, I do. You have been briefed about me?"   
Mika scratched his head and walked over to the Probe. "Not really, no. I know you are an artificial intelligence and we are supposed to be some kind of experimental team. Mr. Knight left the rest open and I think he planned to throw me off the deep end by dragging me here."   
He liked the looks of the car. It was missing the scanner Kitt had, just like the TKR vehicles. He had never seen any of them in person, but he had browsed the files.   
"I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to brief you," Kro now said.   
Mika shrugged. "Neither am I. Join the club."   
Kro clicked one door open and Mika gazed at the interior. It looked almost like in a normal car, except for the rather flashy dash and something that appeared to be a dark TV screen set into the dashboard. He carefully placed a hand on the roof and one on the door's frame. The roof felt smooth under his finger tips. Smoother than a normal car's. Mika had read the tech specs of the car and he knew of the Mimickry Skin. Mimickry was one of the latest developments of the eggheads in the labs. It was a fine layer of fibers that, combined with a complicated array of impossible thin and small chips, could change the car's color and texture even. Kro's silver skin could turn any color and any pattern, as well as even mimic the background. Like a chameleon, the files said, though Mika was rather dubious when it came to that. He had to wait and see.   
"You can get in if you want to," Kro said when he hesitated. "I don't bite."   
Mika chuckled slightly and eased himself into the driver's seat. It was a sports seat, very comfortable to sit in, and he leaned back, relaxing slightly. His eyes traveled over the high tech interior and he whistled softly.   
"Thank you," Kro answered, sounding pleased.   
Mika ran a careful hand over the steering wheel. This was truly a great car and he wondered how it would drive. He was sure it had been tested, but he felt the urge to take it out himself. Well, all in due time. First he had to get to know the AI inside the car.   
"This is cool," he muttered.   
"I'm intrigued by your file," Kro said as he ran his hands over the unfamiliar additions to the basic controls for the car.   
Mika grimaced slightly. "Intrigued, eh? About what in particular?"   
"You were a criminal and you came to work for the Foundation. Were you reprogrammed?"   
He laughed wryly. "In a way, yes. I came to my senses when they caught me on a scam I was trying to pull off. Red-handed, so to speak. Went to jail, did some time, got out and was out of a job." He shrugged. "FLAG offered me one when I needed the money, they didn't seem to care about my reputation and I took it. Look where it got me."   
Kro was silent for a while. "We seem to have some things in common then," he finally said.   
Now that sounded.... weird. "Care to explain?"   
"I think I should let Mr. Knight do the briefing," the AI answered, sounding uncomfortable.   
Mika sighed explosively. All right.... there was something fishy going on. But what?

* * *

Jo leaned against the kitchen counter, frowning at the clean floor.   
"Relax," Michael said. "They'll do just fine."   
"I know how they are doing, Michael," she told him, almost like a patient mother would to a child.   
He raised an eyebrow, smiling. "So, any complaints?"   
"No. Kro's actually.... fascinated by him."   
Michael played with an apple from the fruit bowl. "And you?"   
Jo shot him a dark look, then shrugged. "He was your choice. I trust you know what you are doing."   
He laughed. "Thank you for the vote of confidence, but really, Jo.... what's your first impression?"   
"From the file? Well, he's a low-life criminal with a long record and I don't trust him."   
"Jo...."   
"Michael, he's a former thief and cat-burglar! What do you expect me to say? 'Oh, why, I love to room in with a convict, thank you! Yes, I love to trust Kro to him anytime!'." She sighed.   
"He's reformed. FLAG wouldn't have hired him if we didn't trust into his character. Mika is a professional in his field, yes. He was one of the best. But we gave him a chance to turn another way and he took it. He did good work for us."   
"Well, he didn't turn into a freaked bowl of jelly when Kro talked," Jo muttered. "That's something."   
Michael bit into the apple and nodded as he chewed. "Well, you'll get the time to know him. Mika will move in throughout the next few days, getting to know you and Kro. He will be briefed on everything, and I mean everything. I won't make the mistake of sending an operative out into the field unprepared for all eventualities I can foresee," he added at her scowl. "I chose Mika because he is a balanced, emotionally stable person. He can handle this, I'm sure."   
Jo pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "Everything? As in... the link? You think you can tell him about it without Mr. Reeves hightailing out of here?"   
Michael smiled around another mouthful of apple. "Yes, I think I can. Jo, this is an experiment in every sense of the word. I want this team to work, for Kro's sake. I'd hate to see him chucked out with the junk. We had it happen before with Karr and it turned against us. I won't let the Board make the same mistake again. Kro deserves a chance and Mika is his chance. And yours. Prove to me and the Board that this works."   
Jo was silent for a while, looking at the floor again, eyes holding a faraway expression. Finally she looked up and nodded. "I want this to work as well. I'm no operative and never will be. I'm a background person. I want Kro to be out there again, helping FLAG as he was supposed to all the time."   
Michael smiled. "And you will do all of it if this team work. So, any beep from Kro?"   
"Still nothing serious. They are getting to know each other. Mika wants to know more about him and Kro's unsure about it. He believes you should do the briefing."   
Michael threw the apple core into the garbage. "Okay, then let's introduce you to Mika once more, and this time, we tell him what he can expect."

* * *

The house had gone silent. Jo was used to the silence because up until Nick MacKenzie had moved in, it had always been hers alone. No one else stayed overnight. Even with MacKenzie around, the silence had remained. The man wasn't the type to be loud. With Nick still recovering from the blows he had been dealt, Jo had become the only occupant once more. This afternoon, Mika Reeves had moved in. He would sleep in the second guest room. Currently, he sat on the couch in the living room, comfortably reclined into the cushions, watching the news on CNN. The volume was turned down as not to disturb anyone who might still be working, and he appeared to be completely relaxed.   
Jo watched the man, leaning against the door's frame, hidden in the shadow of the room. There were only a few lights on, the reading lamps, and the flickering light of the TV didn't reach that far. Mika had heard about the implant today. It had been right after he had moved in and Michael had called them down to the lab to 'straighten things out'. Jo had been infinitely nervous, anxious, afraid..... while Kro had just sent the equivalent of a shrug and told her that if Mika freaked, they would simply have to find another operative. Michael had had the utmost confidence nothing extreme would happen.   
In a way, nothing extreme had happened. Listening to the explanation, both from Jo and Michael, Reeves had simply looked at her. Jo had seen a myriad of questions in there, questions she didn't feel inclined to answer. He knew the technical details, but he didn't need to know the close and personal. Kro was linked to her, able to communicate with her through a chip in her inner ear and her neck, but there was a limit as to what she would want him to know. Michael had apparently decided not to force her to explain it either.   
"So, actually, you have a com-link in your head?" Mika had finally said, sounding thoughtful.   
Jo had nodded.   
"Now I know what you meant with a third person behind the scenes, Michael," Reeves had smiled.   
Michael had shrugged. "Jo will be your... watcher, for lack of a better word. She has no authority over how you handle a case, but she can jump in in case you and Kro encounter difficulties."   
"You mean personal difficulties."   
"Those as well."   
The CNN news flash was up and Jo absent-mindedly watched the images of floods and tornado damage. Mika and Kro were supposed to go out on the race tracks and get a feel for each other the day after tomorrow. In a way she felt like she was losing part of herself, but that was ridiculous. Kro wasn't her baby. She hadn't even developed him. He was simply an AI she had tried to help and had become deeply involved with -- against her will. Because Mobius had had the insane idea to give her this implant.   
Still..... she had grown attached to him.   
Jo cursed herself. There she went and did what she had preached to other scientists in her line of work before: she was attaching herself to a patient!   
::Jo?::   
She sighed and turned away from the living room, walking into the kitchen. "I'm okay," she told her friend.   
::You feel.... disturbed::   
One more emotional flood for Kro to try and interpret. In the few days she had been back here, Jo had tried to work on her shields, but somehow she missed MacKenzie's calmly guiding voice. As much as she had been deeply annoyed by the man, he had known his neuro link connections. He had been a professional and he had taught them a lot, but they weren't really good at it yet.   
"Yeah, maybe."   
::Is it because of Mika?::   
"Maybe," she answered cryptically.   
Kro chuckled, a sound she had heard more often lately. Jo took so much pride in it when Kro came out of his shell, developed new features that weren't linked to the Jantzen matrix, and actually behaved... human.   
::Mika is a nice man. I think we will work well together. I'm already looking forward to the test drives::   
Excitement spoke in his voice. Lots of excitement. Jo smiled involuntarily. "I know," she said softly. "I'm happy for you."   
::But you have doubts.::   
She sighed again. Yes, she had doubts, but why? Because she was afraid that Reeves might be bad for Kro? That he might catapult him back to where the young AI had so painfully crawled out of, the pit of madness? She really didn't know. And that was her answer.   
::You don't trust him::   
"No."   
::But you trust me::   
Jo frowned.   
::Mika is a lot like me:: Kro went on. ::He had a bad start, he was given a chance, and he just wants to prove he can be more than what his record says::   
Jo shook her head, a small smile forming on her lips. "You are not the same. He chose his life, his profession, and in the end, his prison sentence. You didn't."   
::What makes you so sure? I chose to follow my first driver. I followed Martin's guidance::   
"Because you didn't know better."   
::That's your interpretation. Mine was loyalty to the person entrusted to me:: Kro said calmly. ::In the end, it all failed and I was convicted and sentenced. You gave me a chance, fought for me. Mika was given this chance by FLAG and he hasn't done anything wrong since then. I trust him::   
As you trusted Martin? she thought to herself. What if Mika Reeves was just another Martin Jantzen, using the AI for his own purposes?

* * *

"You don't like me."   
Jo looked up from where she was tossing the salad, a slight frown crossing her features. Mika stood leaning against the kitchen counter, regarding her with a neutral expression.   
They had been rooming together for three weeks now, Mika mostly out for test drives, and when he wasn't, he and Kro were in the lab with her. Jo knew she had been decidedly cold toward him, not letting the ex-con close. Ex-con. That was the whole problem. Whenever she thought of Mika Reeves, she saw a criminal. A thief. Someone with a less than white vest. She had taken to locking her bedroom door, paranoia setting in, and she counted the silverware. She knew she was overreacting and Kro was telling her the same every time. Again and again. He trusted the man, but she didn't.   
"What are you talking about?" she finally asked, not looking at him.   
Mika sighed softly, not changing his position. "Quite frankly, Doctor, you evade me, you leave a room when I enter, and you count the silverware when you think I don't look."   
Jo stopped, feeling caught. Well, yes, he was right, she left the room when he was there, she evaded his company.... but had it been that obvious? She had always had a ready excuse. A weak one, though. She had claimed work was piling up in the lab.   
"I know you know my record. Kro knows it as well, but he doesn't seem to have the same problems you have," he went on. "He's ready to give this a try."   
Jo turned to the blond man, a scowl on her face. "Kro doesn't know half about criminals. He isn't the right one to judge you."   
He raised one dark eyebrow. "And you are?"   
She opened her mouth to say something, then snapped it shut again.   
"The Foundation recruited me, Dr. Campbell. They have trusted me for the last fifteen months."   
"You think that's enough for me to do the same?" she interrupted. "Mr. Reeves, you are, quite plainly, a thief. You might be doing some good now, working for the Foundation, but you cannot change what you are. Kro is not fit to judge you, yes, because he is too young. He doesn't have the experience. He is desperate to prove himself and if that means through you, he will do it," she hissed. "It doesn't mean I have to trust you because...."   
"He's your baby," Mika said softly, interrupting her flow of words. His brown eyes held a hard to interpret expression.   
Jo stopped, flustered.   
"You helped him, healed him, and you have a link to him. I'm just an intruder, but, Doctor, I'm the one who can get him back into the FLAG ranks of operatives." Mika's words were delivered quite calmly, without heat. "You don't have to trust me, but you have to trust in the Foundation to make the right decision. I'm just the experimental driver, most likely to be replaced when Kro performs with flying colors, but if you don't give this a try, we will fail right here and now."   
She met his serious eyes, then turned away.   
"You don't have to trust me," Reeves repeated, then she heard him leave.   
Jo pushed the salad bowl away and stared out of the window. It was already getting dark outside. A few street lamps were on and casting their spots of light.   
::He's right, you know:: Kro said softly.   
"I know he's right, but he's still what he is."   
::Was::   
She snorted explosively.   
::Mika and I will have our last test tomorrow. After that, we are supposed to join Team Knight Rider, Jo::   
"I know."   
It was giving her stomach problems already. She didn't want to go back to Sky One, face everyone, pretend she was strong enough to suffer through the hostility. She was, right now, even more vulnerable than before. She didn't believe she had the strength to go through with it.   
::Mika will be there as well. He is our only ally at the moment::   
Jo closed her eyes. Only too true. Mika Reeves was Kro's ticket back to acceptance among the others and she wasn't helping.   
Not at all.

* * *

The test run went smoothly. The silver Probe performed flawlessly, getting an almost perfect score. Dr. Jo Campbell stood next to Michael, feeling tense and ready to jump at the slightest touch. The wind that blew across the dry desert lake picked up some of her hair and blew it out of her pony tail. Jo ignored them, batting at one strand once as it flickered across her eyes. The implants transmitted no alarming signals; there was more exhilaration than anything else. Kro was truly enjoying himself. She smiled briefly. Well, at least one was. She felt like a mother watching the first steps of her son. He could fall and hurt himself, or he could actually run. In Kro's case, he was running.   
She had insisted to be there for the last run, to see the car and driver perform. The last few times she had been a spectator through the implant, getting the rush of excitement via the neuro link. Today, she had wanted to be there personally.   
Finally the sports car pulled up next to the group and the driver's door opened as dust settled over the smooth finish. Mika Reeves got out, eyes smiling as much as his face. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, looking nothing like a FLAG agent.   
"Smooth running all the way through," he said, nodding at Jo, giving her a smile.   
She found herself returning it before she had a chance to stop her facial muscles. A twinkle in Mika's eyes told her he had seen it.   
"Impressive," Michael now commented.   
"Thanks. The car's great and I think Kro and I have worked out an understanding."   
The trickle along her neck told Jo the same. Kro could only agree. She smiled secretly.   
Michael nodded, visibly pleased. "All three of you will be leaving for your first practical experience on Monday next week. Take it easy till then."   
Jo and Mika simply nodded.

On the way back to the safehouse, silence reigned in the car. Jo was staring out of the side window, eyes slightly unfocused.   
"You are worried about this test run?"   
The question, if it really was a question, startled her. Reeves was rather perceptive, she had found out.   
"What makes you think so?" she asked defensively.   
"Oh, let me see. Completely silence, tense posture, even less enthusiasm than when I was chosen to drive Kro....." Mika ticked the points off at his fingers, smiling at her.   
Jo sighed softly. "We didn't have the best of times whenever Team Knight Rider encountered us," she finally said.   
"I figured. Kro mentioned a few things."   
She shot him a quick look, but it was hard reading those dark brown eyes. "And?"   
"And nothing. Dr. Campbell, I'm not on the other side. I'm on yours. I have no idea who those people are and what they have done in the past. I only know that if we have to go through with it to help everyone accept Kro back, I'll do it. I have tackled a lot in my past, and not only my criminal past. I think if we can agree on working together, we can handle it." He raised an eyebrow.   
Jo went back to gazing out of the window, aware of a little poke from Kro.   
"I'm not going to con you," Mika added softly, sincerely.   
"I know," she mumbled.   
That got her a smile and Jo forced herself not to smile back.   
"It doesn't mean I trust you, Reeves," she snapped instead.   
He raised one hand as if to ward her off. "Wouldn't dream of that, no way." The grin was back.   
Kro sent a smile as well and she cursed him softly.

* * *

Sky One.   
Jo looked at the huge plane. She had been here severeal times before, but never for long. And every time she had been met with a low-laying hostility, one directed at the AI she had cared for, healed, protected, defended..... Now she was to stay here for a longer time, no set date for her return anywhere. Something trickled along the neck implant and she smiled.   
::We can do it:: Kro said, reacting to her emotions.   
"Yeah," she said softly. "We can, but can they?"   
::Their choice:: the AI said simply.   
Three months had passed since Christopher Cox and her second kidnapping; hopefully the last time that happened. Her deep system checks had determined that Kro had lost more than they had initially thought through the erasure of the merged matrix strings. He had forgotten parts of his past, incidents he had been involved in; mostly negative ones, though. He remembered being a danger in the past, but no longer the details. Martin Jantzen was a name to him, a vague memory, but nothing more. It was both a positive sign and a reason to weep. Part of the young AI had been erased. Just like that.   
No residue of Cox had been found in the CPU files. He had been completely deleted, and his now empty body was still in a hospital. He was a living shell, a body without a mind, but none of the doctors was ready to switch off the machines. Jo wasn't interested in what happened to the man who had brought so much pain upon them; it was the past, forgotten, no longer her problem. She had enough new problems to deal with.   
Like joining Team Knight Rider, even if it was only temporary. Michael's idea was to give them a feel for operations, to test their abilities, especially Kro's, and she had reluctantly agreed. Nick MacKenzie had continued to train them concerning the implant shields and for the first time, Jo had seen him as a human being, not some kind of walking piece of emotionless ice. Talking to Alex Christopher had helped. Their little chats throughout trying to turn a recipe for pie into an edible version had been.... enlightening. Nick was human after all. Who would have guessed?   
Mika had been included into the training sessions and slowly but surely, a team spirit had been born. It was rather hazy right now and there were times Jo wanted to scream out her frustration, but she held back. Neither of them was perfect and if this was to be, she had to make the effort.   
Now Reeves joined her, gazing at the plane. He gave a soft whistle. "Heard a lot about it, but I've never seen it up close."   
"Nothing special," Jo muttered.   
He smiled at her, an infectious, humorous smile. "Lighten up, Doc. It's half as bad when you have good company."   
Jo grimaced, but she had to smile as well.   
"Dr. Campbell, Mr. Reeves. Welcome to Sky One."   
Kyle walked down the ramp and greeted the dark-haired woman, smiling. Jo returned the smile, though a bit more tightly. He turned to the other agent and Mika nodded once.   
"I'm not sure I'm welcome," Jo said simply.   
"This will need some getting used to, granted," Kyle confessed, "but I think you two will prove that Kro is no longer the AI we encountered before."   
Actually, he is, Jo wanted to say, then shut up. She would have enough to deal with in form of Beast, who had been nearly killed by Kro, and Trek, who had had the same experience. Kro had promised not to rise to any challenges and he had actually agreed to adopt Karr's general silence and icy ignorance of any taunting coming from the AIs. He wouldn't shut them out, but he would behave.   
Kyle accompanied the two guests aboard, explaining to them that Sky One was scheduled to take off to St. Louis tomorrow morning for a new investigation into white collar crime and fraud. Her stuff had already been brought aboard and for now, Jo would be an observer. In a way, she had a similar status as Trek. The young man wasn't a soldier, nor a trained fighter. He specialized in computers and did his share to make the cases a success, mostly by using his brains instead of weapons. Mika would be driving Kro, as intended, and only fall back on her in case of a problem.   
Okay, we can make this work, she thought, looking at the four other TKR members and the five cars in the hangar bay. I can make it work. And it's only temporary. Just to give Kro a feeling of operative work. Helping Mika adjust, helping Kro....   
Jo smiled at the men and women. Mika stayed at her side, a friendly smile on his lips, greeting everyone. She was thankful for it. A surge of reassurance came from the implants and she almost laughed. Reassurance from the one who would most likely be greeted by open hostility. It was such a twist. Well, as long as all this trouble would lead somewhere, preferably to Kro getting reinstated as an active operative's car, she was game.   
Time would tell.   


Fifteen hours later Sky One departed toward St. Louis, Kro parked in the hangar among the other cars.

* * *

Mika Reeves closed the doors of the silver Probe. The sun was burning down on him and he immediately wished himself back into the air-conditioned interior of his partner's car shell.   
"Be right back," he now said and headed over to the small store not far from the parking spot.   
Kro didn't answer, but Mika knew he was watching him as he walked up to the store front. They had been on a leisurely drive down the highway, talking, listening to music, generally doing what everyone else did in his car -- except maybe talking to an AI that responded to him -- when Mika's stomach had decided it needed a snack. He wasn't in favor of a long stop in one of the restaurant, so he had pulled up in one of the many little towns off the highway to get himself a sandwich and a soft drink.   
Kro had muttered something about crumbs all over his upholstery, but Mika had good-naturedly ignored him. The two of them were getting along quite well by now. Kro was slowly opening up, the hesitancy making way to a lot of curiosity.   
Mika smiled slightly. Kro was like a little kid, though with some not so childish streaks. He entered the small shopping mart. A middle-aged woman looked up from where she was polishing the oak countertop near the front of the store. Sturdy wooden shelves held neat rows of various shopping goods. In the back was a fridge and this was where Mika was headed. The scent of lemon polish mixed with the faint odor of wood. An antique cash register rested on the counter. A telephone sat on a shelf behind the counter. Mika walked past the shelves and studied the cans of soft drinks in the fridge, then took out two, added a cheese and ham sandwich, and headed back to the register.   
Someone else had entered the store while he had been at the fridge. Mika felt a small tingle run down his spine, something he called his 'internal alarm'. The new customer was a nervous, scruffy-looking boy, about eighteen years old, standing at the counter. Then his alarm screamed out full force as the youth pulled a gun and pointed it at the woman. The youth's arm shook slightly.   
"Money!" he demanded, voice shaking as well.   
The woman's eyes were wide and she had paled dramatically. Mika stopped dead in his tracks, but he had come too close. The boy saw him and turned away from the cash register.   
He pointed his weapon towards him.   
The trigger finger twitched.   
Oh, crap!   
It was all that coursed through his mind.   
Everything happened as if in a dream.   
Mika saw the woman behind the counter move her hand and he thought she pressed the panic button hidden beneath the counter, and dove for cover.   
The boy curled his finger around the trigger.   
Mika tried to duck out of the way as the youth fired two quick rounds. A bottle shattered behind him. A burning pain seared the right side of his chest and he fell face down onto the floor. His chest was on fire and he felt his awareness slip away.

*

Kro had occupied himself with going through his files. He was both bored and excited. Bored stiff because there had been nothing to do for either him or Mika in the last days, just driving around, doing some stake-out work with Domino and Jenny Andrews, then returning to Sky One, then more stake outs. It was leading nowhere. But he was also excited because it meant he had something to do, to prove himself worthy. That he was a member of this team, even if only temporary. That the others were sometimes giving him hell or showing a cold shoulder didn't really faze him anymore. There had been a few close calls when he had nearly lost his calm, but Jo had been there. And his new driver.   
Mika was a nice guy, as he had told Jo again and again. He took this whole reassignment to something so unusual as a talking car in a stride, and he had had no problems facing off Beast when the big truck had been rather obnoxious once more. He defended Kro -- even though he knew about his past. Mika's past as a criminal, an ex-con, didn't interest Kro. Jo was the person to take more than a passing interest in that record, which Kro had difficulty understanding. If Mika would be still a criminal, why had FLAG assigned him to drive a multi-million dollar car? There was no arguing about it with his friend. Jo had her opinion, low as it was of Reeves, and Kro had his.   
Kro's connection to Jo was rather weak at the moment because of the distance, one of the major drawbacks of their link, and he couldn't talk to her. He liked her presence in his CPU, even if it could never be as it was for Michael and Kitt. Jo, even though he thought of himself as healed, was his catalyst and would always be that.   
Sighing, he scanned the area in case something interesting was around him. That was when he heard the shot. Kro's systems powered up to full capacity in a second and he felt his circuits freeze momentarily as he discovered that the shot had come from the shop Mika had entered. The silver Probe directed his scanners solely at the shop.   
Three humans.   
One armed.   
One lying on the ground.   
Kro frantically opened the channel to the wrist watch of his partner. By now they were not simply a communications device, they also doubled as a kind of small scanner. Since the watch was around the drivers' wrists, the AI partnered with the human was able to take life signs to a degree. The look had been changed as well, replacing the watch face with a digital design. The video transmission had been canceled in favor of the medical scanners.   
The readings he received made Kro shiver. It was Mika lying on the ground... and he was injured. His blood pressure was falling and his pulse racing.   
"Mika?"   
There was a raspy cough, then Mika's voice could be heard. "Kro... call... help...." Another cough cut him off.   
Kro was shocked by the weak tone of his voice, by the tremors in it. "Hold on," he whispered.   
He called Sky One.

*

His name was John Lawrence and he had thought this would be such an easy coup. A small mart with no security details in a side street of a town that was almost dead throughout the early afternoon. Just go in and get the money, then run. No one knew him here and by the time they knew what had happened, he'd be out of the state. Now things had complicated several times. He stood motionless at the counter, an expression of shock mixed with fear on his face.   
Finally he approached the fallen man cautiously. He stood over the guy, shaking slightly as he pointed the gun at him. The blond didn't move and he lightly kicked him in the ribs, but there was no response. A stronger kick elicited a moan. Relieved that the man was still alive, the youth moved his free hand through his long, dirty blonde hair.   
He had shot a man. All he had wanted to do was rob a cash register andnow he had shot a man!   
"Goddamit!"

*

Mika opened his eyes as he felt a wave of agony spread across his chest. A face swam into focus and he discovered the gunman bending over him, his face contorted in rage. He grabbed Mika's shirt and pulled his face close to his and screamed, "Why did you have to be here?!"   
He shoved Mika back onto the floor. Blood from the growing stain on the injured man's chest was smearing his palm and he wiped it off quickly.   
Mika slowly turned slightly onto his side. "Sorry for the inconvenience," he gasped, as the pain subsided to a constant ache.   
"Damn you!" The youth backhanded Mika across the face with the butt of the gun.   
Mika was knocked onto his back. The gunman hit him again, opening a deep cut above his left eye. Mika snatched the gunman's wrist to block the next blow. The youth grabbed the gun with his other hand and brutally struck Mika across the face. A gash opened on his left cheek. The boy reversed his hold on the gun, and pointed it at Reeves. He ran his other hand through his hair.   
"Great, just great."   
It was all Mika heard, then he slipped into the merciful darkness of unconsciousness.

* * *

Kro was watching the proceedings anxiously. His call to Sky One had been met with instant reactions in form of TKR arriving, along with a team of police, who had been called by the neighbors. Several police cars were blocking the tree-lined street. Officers crouched behind their car doors, weapons at the ready. Kyle was talking to the lieutenant in charge and Kro directed his audio in their direction. There was nothing new from that end. The police was questioning TKR's presence and Kyle was telling the man, Lieutenant Levy, that not only were they authorized for such cases, he also had a man in there.   
And the man's my driver, Kro thought with more than just a touch of desperation. Mika was hurt, he was in the hands of a robber, and who knew what the man was doing to him. The vital signs were fluctuating and communication was non-existent, except between the robber and the police. There had been demands, unreasonable demands, and threats.   
A familiar presence flooded through him and almost like a drowning person he latched onto it.   
"Jo?"   
"I'm close," came the familiar voice. "Beast and Duke picked me up. Are you okay?"   
Screw my well-being, Kro thought harshly. Mika has been shot! He tried to calm himself, but most of it must have transmitted because he felt Jo react to it.   
"Kro?"   
"I'm okay," he snapped. "Mika's been shot!"   
"I know. Keep calm."   
Kro felt surges of something dark inside him. Keep calm? How could he keep calm? He was about to lose his driver to a bullet! Not again! He couldn't let this happen again, couldn't suffer through it again!   
"KRO!" Jo snapped through the link, catapulting him out of the daze. "No rash actions, okay? Just stay put. We can do this!"   
Somehow, he wasn't sure. But he listened to her. And he listened to the police.

* * *

Three hours after shots had been fired inside the little store, things started to move. Kro was a nervous wreck, though to the outside, he sounded calm and collected. Only Jo Campbell knew what he felt. He had shut her out as much as he managed to do so under the strain. His shields were leaking, but not everything. He knew she wasn't happy about the shields, about the dogged single-mindedness with which he pursued his scans of the interior of the store. He was almost constantly checking Mika's vitals and each time he wasn't reassured. Mika was losing blood, he was dehydrating, and he was in severe pain.   
"Alpha Three to Leader. I have a shot. Should I take him down?"   
Kro was still monitoring police radio band and Jo flinched when the words crackled over the com. Kyle and the rest of TKR had to stand back, by orders of the police. Kyle had reluctantly turned the whole procedure over to the lieutenant.   
"Not yet. Shoot only if he appears to harm the hostage."   
He has already harmed him! Kro thought angrily. Can't you see what is going on? Mika's dying! Electronic twitches coursed through his system, but Jo's presence held him back. She was the only thing that kept him from driving straight into the store's front and run over the man he so clearly saw on his scanners.

*

Mika was barely conscious, but he heard and saw most of what was going on. The gunman was mostly ignoring him, since the injured man wasn't a big threat. He knew police was out there and he knew procedures way too well not to know what else was going on. There were shooters everywhere, SWAT. They would be watching everything. Then there was Kro, who hopefully was still there as well.   
There was no warning when Reeves finally acted.   
As the gunman walked past him, Mika entangled his legs with his own. The youngster tripped and fell forward. The gun sailed out of his hands and landed with a dull sound on the floor.

*

"Alpha Four to Leader. The subject is down. I repeat, the subject is down."   
"Roger Four. Alpha Leader to Team, move in. Secure the subject."   
The SWAT officer codenamed 'Alpha Four' rushed to one side of the door. His partner glanced inside and nodded quickly. The officers entered the building.

*

Kro felt another twitch in his systems, all his attention riveted on what his scanners told him of the events inside the store. Jo, TKR, the police, all were forgotten.

*

"Shit!" John exclaimed as he tried to untangle himself from Mika's legs.   
He crawled free and scrambled towards the gun, which had landed near the front of the store. He lunged for the gun as members of the SWAT team burst through the front door and the storeroom entrance.   
"Stay right where you are! Keep your hands where I can see them!" The SWAT officer pointed his rifle at John's head.   
Everything started to happen very quickly. Lawrence was handcuffed and read his rights, his face holding a kind of stunned surprise. He was dragged out of the store, that was slowly filling with police and paramedics. The store owner was guided out of the room. She was still in shock. Kyle was in with the officers and he stopped in shock as he discovered Mika on the floor, the blood-smeared shirt like a beacon.   
A paramedic pushed past him with a quick apology, kneeling down beside the barely conscious man. The second one appeared like out of nowhere, the trauma box with him, and they worked quickly but surely.   
Kyle hovered behind them, trying not to be in the way, but also knowing he was nothing but a spectator. The lump in his stomach twisted into a hard knot when he saw the full extent of Mika's injuries. The medics worked furiously to stabilize him. Two large intravenous needles were inserted, the wound's blood flow stanched, and fluids pumped into the fading Reeves. They quickly lifted Mika onto the stretcher and rushed him to a waiting ambulance.

*

Kro didn't wait for orders. The moment the ambulance took off, so did he. Jo didn't even ask him to stop, nor did she demand an explanation. She simply told him to be careful and that she would follow as soon as Duke could drive her. Kro registered those words with half an audio unit.   
As the ambulance howled through the town and toward the hospital, Mika's blood pressure continued to drop despite the rapid infusion of fluids. His heart rate remained fast. As they rounded the final curve, Mika went into cardiac arrest. The vitals dropped abruptly and Kro would nearly have slid out of the curve if he hadn't rightened himself. The paramedics started to reanimate. Kro's world started to tilt.   
Not again.   
Not AGAIN!

* * *

Jo felt lost and alone as she sat in the waiting room that was filled with people of all ages, each waiting for news of a friend, a relative, a wife or husband. What was she? A friend? Maybe. She and Mika had worked out an understanding and a base of trust. It wasn't real trust, but it was more than weeks ago when she had thought he'd con her, take every piece of valuable from the safehouse and make off with Kro. She was still paranoid when it came to his intentions, but the paranoia was dampened by a good dose of newly developed instinct that the man was all right.   
Now he was in surgery, fighting for his life. A bullet from some street kid robbing a store had hit him. Not even on a case. Just like that. Freak accident. Jo shivered. She was shielding her emotions and she knew Kro was shielding as well. He was suffering maybe more than anyone else. The AI had retreated to the confines of his CPU, refusing to talk to her, and she knew he was running all kinds of scenarios through his mind. He had lost a driver before. To a bullet as well. Martin Jantzen had died in a hospital. Mika Reeves was by no ways bound to Kro as Jantzen had been, but the mere image had been enough.   
Kyle had accompanied her to the hospital and was sitting next to her, a silent guardian and possible friend. They had talked little and there was really nothing to talk about.   
Hours later, they got the news from the surgeon who had operated on Mika.   
"The bullet did a lot of damage," the slightly tired looking man said. "He dropped a lung and it was touch and go for a while. We stabilized him and he is responding to all the fluids we are pumping into him. The next twenty-four hours will be critical, but if he gets through that, I think he'll be fine."   
Jo felt like she was falling into a black hole. It was relief and dread, both rushing at her, and she had barely the strength to keep up the facade.   
"Thanks," she mumbled.   
"We received a call from a Mr. Michael Knight from the Foundation of Law and Government. Apparently Mr. Reeves has no close relatives and Mr. Knight asked me to list you as next of kin for now."   
She blinked in surprise.   
"You are colleagues, I suppose," the doctor added.   
Joanne nodded. "Yeah, we work together."   
He nodded. "We'll keep you informed about his condition. You best go home and get some sleep. There is nothing much you can do right now."   
She nodded again, feeling Kyle's hand on her arm. Jo followed him outside, the clear, cold air hitting her like a slap in the face, and she inhaled it greedily.   
"Dante will keep tabs on the hospital's records concerning Mika," Kyle told her.   
"Thanks," was all she managed as she rubbed her hands over her tired face.   
Kro and Dante were parked in the hospital parking lot and try as she might, Jo couldn't pick up anything from her friend. It was disconcerting, but right now she didn't have the strength to put an effort into making him talk.   
They drove back to Sky One and Jo all but ignored everyone, dropping into her bed and staring at the ceiling of the room.   
What was it about her and Kro that attracted catastrophes like that?

* * *

Mika Reeves hated hospitals. Not that he had spent a lot of time in them. He was actually a very luck ex-criminal. There had been a cut by a knife, some abrasions from fights, a bruise, once appendicitis, but never shot wounds. Not all crooks ended up with them as a rule. Some happily lived a life without ever seeing an ER from the inside. No, he hated hospitals because of the sterile white walls, the clinical environment, the bustle of nurses and doctors around you, the medications and IVs. He had had a lot of that lately. Too much and enough to last him a lifetime.   
So when he was finally released after two weeks of spending his time staring at white walls or happily colorful TV screens, he was as happy as can be. After he had been brought out of his two-day stay in the Intensive Care Unit, Mika had spent another two days trying to get his muddled brains together, and had finally been able to tell apart the faces of his visitors. Jo had been in. Rather often, he had to say. The first time she had brought him the com wrist watch, the second time something to read, and after that they had mostly talked. It had given Mika some interesting insights into his colleague.   
Have to get shot for her to tell me about herself. Figures, he thought.   
Well, it had also given him a lot of time to talk to Kro. And they had talked. About everyone and everything, and he had heard about Kro's past from the one who had lived it live, not just a report from a third person. There had been pain in the AI's voice, and Mika had told him that he could stop any time. He didn't have to tell him all of that. But Kro had.   
He had wanted to get it out in the open.   
"Hello, Mika," the Ford Probe now said pleasantly, popping the door open as Reeves approached. It was the passenger door.   
Mika peered inside, one hand supporting his still rather tender side, and he discovered Jo at the wheel. He flashed her a smile and eased himself onto the co-driver's seat.   
"Hope you aren't a complaining passenger," the scientist said. "Or someone who gets freaked at women driving."   
Mika laughed. "Nope, you just go on and drive. I'm rather comfortable here. What do I owe the pleasure of this taxi service to?"   
"Doctor's orders. No hard work or straining activities for you," Kro answered sternly. "You are still healing."   
"Tell me about it." Mika leaned his head back, true to his words completely relaxed. He didn't have the strength to ponder accidents or driving styles. He was simply glad to be out of the hospital.   
His face still looked like someone else's punching ball. The cuts had been stitched, but the flesh around it had been discolored and swollen for a while. It was now gradually turning a shade more normal. The stitches had been removed yesterday and he had been told to come back for regular checks. Thankfully there was no hemorhagging in the eyes, something that easily happened when the area around the eyes was struck, and there was no nerve damage. The blows could have done a lot more damage than the superficial one he now had as proof to bear.   
They drove almost in complete silence, Kro switching on the radio as background noise. Jo surely and safely drove to the safehouse that had become their home away from Sky One. Due to his injury, Mika was off the list of active operatives for a while and Sky One had been called to another mission. Kro stopped on his usual parking spot inside the basement lab and Mika got out, feeling like he had just driven a marathon himself. Damn the wound. Even while it was healing, it leeched off his strength.   
"Hungry?" Jo asked as she shut the door.   
"Are you kidding? After the food they served me, I could probably eat whatever is in the fridge!"   
She chuckled. "Let's get upstairs. I'll see what I can make out of the stuff we have."   
"Oh, hello," Mika chuckled. "Great service."   
"Don't spoil it, Reeves," she warned him, a mock scowl on her features. There was a smile in her eyes.   
Mika followed Jo to the first floor, sat down on the couch and switched on the TV.   


Jo disappeared into the kitchen. She couldn't express how relieved she was that Mika was back home. She didn't dare to even think about it in too much detail. The first few days he had fought off death, then pneumonia, she had been a nervous wreck. There had been an emergency throughout the first night when he had started bleeding internally again, when he had been rushed off into surgery once more. Then he had fought his way back to consciousness, barely recognizing anyone. With nothing much to do at home, she had spent a lot of time at the hospital. Kro had always kept tabs of whatever was going on and only started to really come out of his shell of fear when Mika was pronounced on his way back to recovery.   
She returned to the living room, two sandwiches in her hands, and smiled gently when she saw the blond man. Mika had slid down further into the softness of the couch, eyes closed, breathing regularly. His features, still showing the signs of abuse by the hands of John Lawrence, were completely relaxed. She placed one sandwich on the couch table and tip-toed downstairs into the lab with the other.   
"Mika's sleeping?" Kro asked.   
"Yes. He still needs to heal."   
"I know. I'm glad he's back and okay."   
Relief touched her through the link and Jo smiled. So am I, she thought. So am I.   
And it was the complete truth.   



End file.
